Southside With You is a new film from director Richard Tanne which recounts President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s very first date in the summer of 1989. The film premiered at Sundance to rave reviews, including from our own Michael Roffman, who called it, “charming and prescient.”
“Tanne borrows from Richard Linklater’s notebook and applies his Before magic, eschewing any of the expected prestige in lieu of surprising naturalism,” wrote Roffman. “Walking with Barack and Michelle, you tend to forget who they are at times, which is quite a powerful feat on behalf of the filmmaker.”
Parker Sawyers stars as the future president of the United States, while Tika Sumpter portrays Mrs. Obama.
The official synopsis:
“Inspired by Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date, Southside With You recounts the eventful summer day in 1989 when a young law firm associate named Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) tried to woo lawyer Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) during a daylong date that took them from the Art Institute of Chicago to a screening of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing to the site of their first kiss outside of an ice cream parlor.”
